How often do you say, “It’s time to stop doing this work. It’s time to work towards that kind of work.”

How often do you say, “I want to offer this thing by that time. How will I get there?”

You do it differently when you are an employee than when you are an entrepreneur. But you do it, regardless of your current role. And the closer you are to “retirement?” You really better start thinking about this.

Just because you stop working for a big company with benefits doesn’t mean you will stop working. You might choose to stop working for money. (Then again, you might not!) But, you need to keep thinking. If you stop thinking, if you stop being intellectually challenged and you might die before your time. Your brain keeps growing and changing until the day you die. That’s what neuroplasticity is all about.

It’s very easy to let the day-to-day responsibility of the house, the spouse, the kids, and the job stop us from thinking about this greater responsibility, our careers.

Maybe you want to think about your life, instead.

What if I said, “You are responsible for your life?” Would that change how you think about this question?

You are. You are responsible for your career. You are responsible for your life. Ain’t it great? Does that fill your heart with dread or with possibility?

To me, it’s full of possibility. It means I can experiment. I can try something, get a little feedback, learn from it and continue. I might do the same thing, modify it, or do something else. I have the responsibility for my life to learn.

Dear adaptable problem solvers, this is your question of the week: Who is responsible for your career?